The Denham Caldera on Raoul Volcano: dacitic volcanism in the Tonga–Kermadec arc

Abstract

Denham Caldera, on Raoul Volcano in the Tonga–Kermadec arc, is a simple collapse structure. It is 6.5×4 km 2 across, >0.3 km deep, represents an erupted magma volume of 8–16 km 3, and is considerably larger than previously estimated. Caldera formation was contemporaneous with an eruption of homogeneous dacitic magma at 2.2 ka. Tephra from this event is preserved as a pumice fall and pyroclastic flow sequence up to 120 m thick on Raoul Island. Offshore, this sequence forms a submarine deposit diminishing in thickness from 120 m near the northern caldera rim to 80 m at a distance of 3.5 km, where it rests upon an erosional planation surface of 17–20 ka age incised into older volcaniclastic rocks. Both the caldera volume and ejecta distribution of the 2.2 ka eruption are comparable to the caldera volume and ejecta distribution of the 1883 Krakatau eruption. Resurgent volcanism has built at least six submarine pyroclastic cones along a north–northeast trending lineament crossing Denham Caldera. Redistribution of pumiceous dacite from these cones, including ephemeral islands that emerged during the 1814 and 1870 eruptions, has contributed to recent shoaling in Denham Bay. A smaller eruption occurred in 1964–65, and hydrothermal activity persists at several sites along the lineament. Voluminous felsic volcanism at intra-oceanic arcs is usually associated with crustal extension, and was unexpected in the Tonga–Kermadec arc. However, because the tectonic fabric within the active back-arc Havre Trough is oblique to the Kermadec arc, rifts within the trough apparently propagate to the volcanic front and transfer extensional strain to the arc, thereby promoting the ascent of felsic magma. The orientation of Denham Caldera, as well as that of Macauley Caldera 110 km further south, thus reflect the stress field of the Havre Trough and not the predominant field of the arc.